Neath's twice postponed Heineken Cup clash with Beziers was well worth the wait as the Welshmen just got the better of the French side in a thrilling encounter.

Beziers showed all their French during the closing stages as they looked for an all-important try but the Neath defence just about held out.

Early Neath dominance only reaped a penalty on 21 minutes by fly-half Lee Jarvis.

Match details

Neath (13) 23 Tries: G Morris, A Newman Cons: Jarvis 2 Pens: Jarvis 3 Beziers (10) 18 Tries: Aue, Ghezal Cons: Quesada Pens: Quesada Drop Goals: Mignoni Att: 2,500

The home side paid for their inability to convert pressure into points as Beziers hit back with a sparkling try.

Captain Pierre Mignoni breached the Neath defence to send lock Karim Ghezal galloping over in the corner.

Argentine Gonzalo Quesada converted superbly from the touchline before extending his side's lead with a penalty before Jarvis replied with a similar effort.

In injury time in the first half, Neath flanker Alfie Mocelutu scrambled over near the post for Jarvis to add the extra points.

Jarvis kicked his third penalty early in the second half but Beziers found the Neath slope to their liking.

Centre Jean-Marc Aue had too much pace for the covering defence as he broke a tackle to break clear for a fine try before scrum-half Mignoni gave his side the lead with a neat left-footed drop goal.

Neath regained the lead 10 minutes from time as the home side worked a superb overlap as right-winger Gareth Morris. Jarvis to convert from wide.

Neath travel to group leaders Leicester and Beziers take on Calvisano to complete the group this weekend.

Neath: Adrian Durston; Gareth Morris, James Storey, Dave Tiueti, Sean Marsden; Lee Jarvis, Andy Moore; Duncan Jones, Barry Williams, Adam Jones, Andy Newman, Gareth Llewellyn (capt), Alfie Mocelutu, Steve Tandy, Rowland Phillips.
Reps: Allan Bateman, Shaun Connor, Paul James, Adam Matthews, Lyndon Bateman, AN Other, AN Other.

Beziers: S Bonetti; P Escalle, J-M Aue, J-P Grandclaude, T Dejardin; G Quesada, P Mignoni (capt); S Chobet, D Swarzewski, S Bonnorino, K Ghezal, V Nadiradze, F Martinez, A Gardiner, F Gommard.
Reps: J Selva, T Ratianidze, M Keita, R Castel, A Bousquet, Y Lafforgue, J Laharrague.

Referee: Roy Maybank (RFU)